Recently, air traffic and shipping in the Baltic Sea have been affected by extensive disturbances of GPS systems in the Baltic Sea.
Many experts claim that Russia is behind the attacks and the Swedish Navy Commander Ewa Skoog Haslum is now calling on NATO to act.
– This makes the area more unsafe, says Skoog Haslum.
At a defense conference in Washington DC earlier this week, Navy Commander Ewa Skoog Haslum talked about Russian GPS spoofing in the Baltic Sea affecting security in the area, writes Defense One.
One consequence is an increased number of vessels turning off their automatic identification system, making it more difficult to identify their origin or exactly what they are doing in the Baltic Sea. A phenomenon that Skoog Haslum calls “ghost shipping,” which she describes as “getting bigger and bigger.”
In addition, the phenomenon not only affects the security of the area, but also damages the regional economy:
– The military is not as affected because we are not so dependent on GPS systems, but it makes the area more unsafe and then the price of insurance rises, says Skoog Haslum at the defense conference.
Russia is behind
Many experts claim that Russia is behind the attacks and Estonian scientists believe that they are using electromagnetic warfare from Kaliningrad.
Now NATO-allied countries must deal with the situation by increasing their presence in the Baltic Sea, says Ewa Skoog Haslum. It could be about using NATO assets to accompany merchant ships, help with navigation or other things.
– I think that security is only created by presence right now. Being close to merchant shipping so they can also feel safe, says Skoog Haslum.
It means “spoofing”
Spoofing means a borrowed or forged identity on the Internet, usually with a fraudulent purpose. The fraudster then usually uses trusted senders.
The term spoofing comes from the English word for parody – spoof. When it comes to fraud, spoofing refers to the use of a false identity to trick someone into, for example, personal information such as a password or login to a bank ID or bank deposit box.
Common forms of spoofing:
• Scam emails where the sender appears to come from a trusted source. Often you are asked to click on a link or download a program. This is often spam or phishing.
• Manipulated phone numbers where fraudsters have manipulated the number they are calling from using computer software so that it appears to come from a credible actor such as the police or your bank.
• Text messages that appear to come from a well-known company or authority. Here the fraudster wants to get you to click on a link that can cause viruses in the phone, or that by clicking on the link you approve various types of paid services.
• Fake websites that are set up to imitate another website and whose purpose is to access personal information such as account numbers and passwords.
• Data breach where the attacker gets into a computer system by making the call appear to be coming from a different system than it actually is.
Source: The Internet Foundation